International System of Units: The Most Confusing Way to Measure Things

The International System of Units (SI) is a metric system established in 1960 and widely used around the world. Its purpose is to provide a coordinated system of measurement that is accurate, reliable, and consistent across all countries. However, despite its noble intentions, SI can be confusing and downright hilarious at times.

For instance, the base unit of length is the meter, which is defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in one second. So, if you were to ask someone how far away a star is, they might say something like, “Oh, it’s about 4.2 light-years away, or roughly 39.9 trillion meters.” How helpful!

And don’t get us started on the kilogram, the base unit of mass. Did you know that it’s defined as the mass of a cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France? Yup, that’s right. The entire world’s weight system relies on a lump of metal stored in a basement somewhere in France. What could possibly go wrong?

Then there’s the second, the base unit of time. It’s defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom. Say that five times fast! It almost makes you appreciate the good old-fashioned ticking clock on your wall.

But wait, there’s more! SI also includes other units like the candela for luminous intensity, the ampere for electric current, and the mole for amount of substance. It’s all so convoluted that we can’t even make up a joke to go with it.

In conclusion, the International System of Units may be the most confusing way to measure things, but at least it’s not as arbitrary as the imperial system used in the United States. So the next time you’re trying to figure out how far away something is or how much it weighs, just be thankful you don’t have to use rods, furlongs, or stones.